


The Best Laid Plans of Monsters and Men

by NancyHartigan



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Torture, War Crimes, Werewolf Culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:54:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22470607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NancyHartigan/pseuds/NancyHartigan
Summary: April 28, 1980. During the First Wizarding War, Dumbledore had a job that Remus Lupin was uniquely qualified to pull off. So unique, he was very likely the only member of the Order of the Phoenix that could have possibly done it, which meant that he had very little say in the matter, even if his friends hated not knowing where he was going or what he was doing.This would have worked a lot better if Fenrir Greyback hadn't kept his senses as sharp as a tack meticulously, because Greyback knows his pack better than they realize and is more than malicious enough to take out a recently-relocated pup if he thought it was for the good of the majority.
Relationships: Fenrir Greyback/Remus Lupin, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 61





	The Best Laid Plans of Monsters and Men

Werewolves might come off as perfectly normal people, but it was hard to deny that there was always going to be a beast inside of them begging to come out, especially if there was trouble brewing. It has been that way since their inception, and it wasn’t going to change any time soon.

It wasn’t a surprise that tensions were getting high in April these days. While there was very little question about who the alpha male in the Greyback pack was, Remus’ head was practically throbbing from all the heightened scents and he had no option to breakaway to get any of this tension relieved. Instead, he just kept to his cave for a while, mostly relieved that none of the girls were coming by to check on him. It wasn’t like Fenrir wasn’t already suspicious of him to begin with without him having to feel his position was threatened.

Remus had just managed to doze off when he felt himself wake with a jolt, his scalp feeling like it was on fire as he realized he was being forced deeper into the cave, away from the firelight.

As Remus finally shook the rest of his body awake, he became very aware that his general friendliness to the other pack members and sudden isolation probably made for a bad impression this time of the year and tried to struggle to his feet.

Fuck it. Whatever Greyback was after him for, it meant nothing good, and Remus was having exactly zero part of it. His hardened nails reached up for his wrist, seeking the soft flesh between bone, and he _dug_ until he could smell the bloodied overtones in the air. His effort was rewarded by Greyback slamming Remus’ head into a rock before dropping him.

He didn’t yelp, he just set his jaw and bared his teeth, eyes searching for the reflective telltale golden glow of Greyback’s above him.

Greyback may have had the better position, but Remus was much smaller and so much faster on the uptake, and fuck he wanted a fight so badly after the month he’s had to quietly endure over here. His leg kicked out, hitting Greyback’s knee and soon the alpha was on him again. There was the sound of fabric tearing and Remus just knew his jacket was already ruined from those untrimmed claws that were a piss poor excuse for nails.

The tussle ended just as savagely as it began, with Remus hitting the floor roughly with a knee digging into his sternum, pressing down dangerously hard, making it hard for Remus to breathe without feel like a rib was going to break.

“You know, I’ve been trying to figure out what exactly you were trying to prove coming back,” Greyback told him. “I should have figured Dumbledore had you by the balls to begin with.”

It was not exactly a fighting technique that Remus was proud of (and would forever deny doing in a pinch), but he got an arm in between Greyback’s legs and gave a hard uppercut right to the groin to push him off. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Greyback landed horribly, but recovered quickly. “Don’t play stupid, Lupin! If you’re here to start over you’d have picked someone out by now, but I can understand, I smell him all over you, but where is he if you’re so excited to start over?!” Remus missed his mark when he kicked out, not reacting fast enough to prevent an abnormally large hand from encircling his neck. “I’ll tell you where, he’s in London, isn’t he? I’ve been in the Forbidden Forest before, boy, I know that scent as well as your own.”

Remus snapped at the arm in front of him, trying to catch it in his teeth, but only coughed in response after multiple tries, so just slashed at the inside of Greyback’s elbow to get it bent enough for him to sink his teeth into the retreating forearm as hard as he could. Greyback growled in response, throwing his arm horizontally and dragging Remus to hit him against was cave wall. The younger werewolf immediately threw his arm up to catch himself.

“You stupid little pup.” Greyback pulled his head back by the hair again, throwing him back to the dirt with enough force that Remus felt the back of his head bounce. “I took you back into my pack, I offered you a place where you can embrace this gift I gave to you, but you just throw all of this back in my face. It’d serve you right if we hunted that posh little bitch of yours down like the dog he is and make you make the call on if he joins us or not.”

Remus had quite enough of this, nor was he going to take that threat sitting down, so he grabbed the older man’s ankle and pulled just pulled it, sending Greyback slamming down on to his back and Remus scrambling to get close enough to slam the heel of his hand into his diaphragm and knock the wind out of him, but that large hand flew to his throat before he could do it, squeezing it hard enough that Remus could _feel_ the cartilage bend and move as he tried to swallow his last gasp of air.

“Don’t think you are going to just die and be done with it, boy,” Greyback told him, watching Remus dig and scratch at his arm until the scratches were full-on gashes in his flesh. “You’re going to give me an address so I can return your corpse to sender.”

He only marginally loosened his grip, enough for Remus to speak if he chose to, and Remus decided to take a page out of Peter’s book and just spit at him in response.

Honestly, the worst part wasn’t the snarl on Greyback’s lips, Remus was fully aware that was going to be his response, he just noticed that his mouth seemed to have just as much blood as it had saliva, and his mind frantically looked for an answer to what injury could have caused it.

“ _Crucio_.”

The white-hot pain was instantaneous and more intense than Remus had ever felt, and he had undergone the goddamn monthly transformation hundreds of times. When he failed to shake it off, he tried clenching his jaw, biting his tongue, but it only took a few agonizing moments to finally scream out, made all the worse by his voice echoing off the walls and amplifying.

“ _Where_ can I find who sent you, Lupin? I’m not asking twice!”

Remus wasn’t sure that he could answer that one even if he wanted to. There was a sharp stabbing pain permeating from the back of his skull, his body felt like he was being torn asunder but the nerves refused to die. When he finally found his tongue, Remus knew he had to say something, anything.

“The Leaky Cauldron! Room 11!”

It was far from the Room of Requirement, far from all of their homes. It was the only answer that seemed to make sense, an added detail to make his lie feel more real. He just damned whoever was renting this room come the full moon, or whenever the pack got hungry, but the onslaught to his senses subsided, only the ghosts of the pain remaining, strong enough to sap what little strength remained to the point that when Greyback tossed him to the side like a discarded toy, all Remus could do was lay there, trying to catch his breath, try to will the pins and needles out of his face.

Without much warning, Remus felt his head lift, and then his airway was blocked again, and it took every last remaining braincell that he had to realize that Greyback had shoved his cock so deep into his throat that he couldn’t even get a breath out of his nose. If he had enough strength to fight back after what his body had gone through, Remus would have taken full advantage and made sure that he would be the last victim of this sort of attack that Greyback would ever have.

Except when Remus tried to bite down, all that it did was change the angle just right for his body to pathetically gag in a last-ditch effort to get his throat free.

The fist in his hair took the hint and pulled him off the offending appendage, and he immediately gagged and coughed in relief of the musty air hitting his burning lungs again, but before he could stop and collect himself again, it was sliding past his lips and his teeth and threatening to penetrate his throat again.

He couldn’t do this. There was no way in hell he wanted to, but the minute he tried to pull away, the fist in his hair stilled his movement and his breath was blocked again, and this time he could fucking feel every inch of it as Greyback made his way to the back of his throat. Remus wrenched his eyes shut, trying to block everything out as his nose met his assailant’s pelvis until he choked again and was pulled away.

“You’re not a wolf, Lupin,” Remus could barely make out over his coughing. “You know what you are? You’re nothing but Dumbledore’s obedient little _dog_.”

The hand in his hair let go just to go to his forehead and push him backward, and Remus didn’t have any strength left in his body to try to catch himself, much less try to fight Greyback off much longer. His eyes did dart toward the older beast, which was when he noticed that there was…a lot of blood near the hip of his jeans, which were coming down past his hips before Remus couldn’t look anymore.

He touched the side of his face, and it fucking burned as he fingers carelessly slipped against the surface before his wrist was snatched away from his body with a commanding call of, “Look at me, Lupin!”

Remus didn’t look at him, though, the closest he managed was watching his hand slam into the dirt, transfixed on his red fingertips and the crimson line that was making its way toward his palm.

He knew what was coming next. All he wanted to do was mentally go somewhere else. He didn’t have the focus to disapperate and get anywhere safely; maybe a few kilometers away, but he doubted he’d make it any further than that if he tried, and then the only people that could ever find whatever remained of him were this pack.

The grip on his wrist tightened, almost impossibly so, and the pain brought him mentally back to the situation, the painful crack of the delicate bones echoing, but drowned out entirely as Remus found the strength to scream again, the burning of his lungs now hitting levels that felt like they were being incinerated. Instinctively, his back arched off the dirt, trying to place the tension anywhere but on his wrist, and then he felt _teeth_.

This wasn’t the possessive bite of Sirius, one that would leave a mark that would leave Remus reaching for turtlenecks for days. No, this was a predator’s bite, one to tear his throat out and leave him dying in this cave a bloody mess to feed the pack with for at least a day.

This, he didn’t scream for, just winced helplessly as he felt the fangs scrape through lean muscle and tendon until he heard the wet noise of a piece of flesh being ripped away. It was almost a welcome distraction from the invading feeling below his waist, where if he hadn’t been so familiar from other circumstances, he would have been sure that he was being ripped in half. He wasn’t sure he knew when his pants essentially became scrap material only covering his legs and otherwise completely useless, and he wasn’t sure it really mattered, especially when he was trying to avoid thinking about how his body was betraying him, responding properly to an alpha’s more intimate attention after reasserting his title.

Animals. That’s all either of them were. It was a shame that Remus was so sure that this bit of information would never be reported on; he’d never live to report back to Dumbledore, his father was going to never know what happened to him.

He hoped the same for Sirius. He really, truly hoped it was the same for Sirius, because all this pain he was in was practically magnifying the little pleasure he was gaining from it.

Remus made a small noise, somewhere between a moan and a whimper and Greyback’s bloodied face just grinned back down at him.

“That’s cute, pup. Let’s see if I can make you make that noise again.”

He hated that when he repeated the motion that he made it again, as if he was no longer in control of his body. All Remus could think of to do was look at his hand and try to get his fingers to move. If he could just push him off, maybe he could take that Disapperate idea and die at least trying to get away.

Sure enough, no matter how he willed it, he couldn’t even get his fingers to ball into a fist. Not even a twitch. It more than confirmed what he already knew about the state Greyback left his wrist in, and that meant he’d have to try fighting him off one-handed.

Resigned, Remus let his eyes close and try to enjoy the ride as much as he physically could. It was a damn shame that the pain overrode any more pleasant mental images that might make this a little better, because he was sure damn trying to remember what Sirius looked like last summer when his shirt had gotten too wet from washing his motorbike and had to take it off.

Anything would be better than letting his mind be overridden by the knowledge that Greyback was the one who was making him make these noises, responsible for every modicum of pain and pleasure coursing through his body. Remus made one more effort with his good arm to try to dig at a vein, but all he was getting was red trails, no more dangerous than the ones that Sirius left over his body in much better moments than the one he was in right now.

It wasn’t until after Greyback was thrown off his body that Remus realized he had seen a yellow spark of light and he could hear rapid footsteps approaching them both.

A pair of dirt-stained trainers ran directly past him and his eyes flicked up enough for him to recognize the blue plaid shirt and messy dark hair.

“ _Lumos_.”

Remus winced in pain from the sudden light, golden eyes failing to adjust in time to avoid temporary blindness, but not before his eye caught a glimpse of red hair, but that just made the sound of heavy boots skidding to a halt so much louder and Remus inwardly cringed when he felt worn out leather at a palm, but bare fingers going across his face.

“Stay with us, Moony!”

That all but confirmed it in his head, and Remus reached up with his good arm to find the back of his head and pull Sirius’ head down into a far more forceful kiss than he thought he had the strength to pull off, resisting the urge to bite down and capture his top lip while he was at it. This wasn’t a safe place for Sirius at all, not this time of year, not this close to a full moon, not when Greyback knew exactly what Sirius smelled like.

“Go home, Padfoot,” Remus breathed when he finally let Sirius up for air. At least his eyes were adjusted enough for him to get enough of a look at the blood across his jawline and over his chin.

Red was definitely Sirius’ color, he decided idly, he never wanted this man more in his life.

Sirius turned his head to look up at what he could now confirm was Lily, who just shook her head, ghostly white even without her wand’s brilliant light.

“ _James_!” she called out, not realizing that by now Remus was sure that James found the connecting tunnels and was getting himself lost trying to keep up with a man who knew these tunnels well.

Sirius shook the shock off himself and grabbed Lily’s arm. “There’s no time for that.”

With a sudden crack in the air, Remus recognized the ceiling above their heads to be the Hogsmeade safehouse, and the old mattress felt so much warmer and more comfortable than Remus could ever remember.

Lily immediately went for the drawer that she kept her emergency supplies in, yelling for Peter to come help while Sirius’ panicked eyes were clearly searching for answers, any answer he could find, before he settled on putting enough pressure on the side of Remus’ neck to make his vision darken around the edges and stars explode behind his eyes.

He heard Lily call for Peter again, watched her look around and let out a noise of genuine frustration before using an antiseptic mixed with a Wiggenwald Potion on a rag, wiping at his face, stinging it more than ever, and Remus almost found the strength to scream again, but it faltered in his throat.

Another crack filled the room as James landed on his feet, covered in dirt and minor cuts before joining the crowd near the bed. “Wormtail, we kind of need you!”

“He’s not here,” Lily told him.

“What do you mean he’s not here?” James asked her, looking at Remus’ hand and gently taking to it hold it above Remus’ head. “Moony what the hell were you doing back there?”

“ _James_!” Lily snapped. “Not now!”

Sirius just looked up at James and shook his head, clearly at a loss for words about this whole thing.

Remus let his eyes slip closed, giving in to the comfort that was a warm bed, and, well, if he didn’t wake up, at least he knew he wasn’t going to die alone in a cave, completely isolated and humiliated.

Sirius seemed to notice first, given how he shouted his real name first, then James called out his nickname, and Remus was sure that Lily was yelling that she was sending for Dumbledore and begging Remus to hold on just a little while longer.

***

By time Remus finally came to, it was clear that he had been relocated. It took a few minutes for his eyes to focus before he realized it was James' place. Thick comforters had been thrown over the windows to block out the light from outside. James was asleep against Lily's shoulder in the next room, which he could tell from the open door, one of the dining room chairs had been pulled into the room with Sirius straddling it, arms folded over the top of the back and his head resting in it. Peter seemed to already be awake, crossing through Remus' vision on his way to the kitchen.

Out of instinct, Remus flexed his bad hand's fingers, not surprised to only be met with some soreness, but everything seemed to be in order there otherwise.

Finally, he sat up and was about to lay back down from the effort it took before he felt the warm leather of Sirius' glove on his back.

The silence between them felt like it lasted at least a lifetime, and Remus didn't even dare look at him. How the hell was he going to explain this?

Sirius was the one who broke the silence, his voice sleepy.

"Dumbledore says you don't have to go back, they've made their choice."

Remus took a shaken breath, letting his eyes close as he felt Sirius' hand work a knot loose in his tense, torn muscles. "This looks bad. Padfoot, I..." Sirius kept his mouth shut, waiting for Remus to finish, but he couldn't get it out even if it was at the tip of his tongue. Instead, he just shook his head to let him know he couldn't finish it.

Sirius moved his hand so he could get up and sit behind him and reaching around him to offer Remus his opened flask without a word.

Remus wasn't one to drink, but he just leaned back against Sirius' side and let the contents burn his throat without a second thought.

**Author's Note:**

> I just felt bad for not updating in a while thanks to a busy schedule, so I thought you guys would like something to make up for it. I'm hoping to get a few more vignettes and the last chapter of JPatFLP up soonish, please bear with me!


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